Steward can't pick a winner

      Emanuel Steward lets out a groan and chuckles nervously.
      "Oh, don't ask me to do that," said Steward, one of boxing's preeminent trainers.
      Steward was asked to pick a winner in Saturday's fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker for the World Boxing Council welterweight championship at the Thomas & Mack Center.
      Steward is more qualified than most to submit his opinion. He was in the opposite corner working for Miguel Angel Gonzalez in De La Hoya's last fight and worked with Whitaker during his amateur days.
      But Steward struggled to pick a winner.
      "This is the roughest pick of any fight I've seen in my life," Steward said. "I usually have the ability to close my eyes and meditate, see the fight taking place and predict it accurately. But when I do that now, I see two different fights.
      "In one, I see De La Hoya with his hands out in front, staying a step ahead of Whitaker. And in the other, I see Pernell beginning to penetrate Oscar's defense. I guess that's why I picked Oscar to win in one magazine and Pernell to win in another. It's so close. I don't know. It's going to be a great fight, because both guys are very into it. But I guess I change my mind every hour or so."
      Veteran trainer Eddie Futch, who has handled many champions, agreed but said De La Hoya will win a decision.
      De La Hoya, 24, is generally regarded as the harder puncher. That, Futch said, should be the major difference.
      "Oscar's a very dedicated and thoughtful young man, and I've had the privilege of working in the same gym with him," Futch said. "When I watched, I saw how quickly he picks up on tactics, and although Whitaker is an extremely smart fighter and will use plenty of different tactics, his reflexes won't allow him to carry it off.
      "Oscar has good reflexes, and he gets his punches off fast. Plus, he has the power to do a lot of damage."
      Longtime trainer Gil Clancy, now a television analyst, agreed that De La Hoya's power could be his edge. He said he thinks De La Hoya will win, maybe by a knockout.
      Whitaker's strategy, Clancy said, should be to reach into his bag of tricks and throw De La Hoya off his plan. The left-handed Whitaker, 33, throws punches from unusual angles.
      "Pernell's best bet will be to completely confuse him and to have Oscar guessing what is going on," Clancy said. "Pernell has that style of getting down very, very low and doing some different things. I don't think people really appreciate how tough Pernell is and how good he is in the trenches.
      ''But I think his legs are starting to go, and that, along with his age, makes me feel like it's going to be De La Hoya's fight."
      Richie Giachetti, who trained Larry Holmes for years and is preparing Mike Tyson for his May 3 rematch with Evander Holyfield, also likes De La Hoya, but said he felt it would go the distance.
      Giachetti said De La Hoya must utilize his piston-like left jab he used to dominate Gonzalez in his last fight, on Jan. 18 at the Thomas & Mack.
      "I would have Oscar keep the jab in Pernell's face and not let him get off," Giachetti said. "Oscar should keep moving, and he has to come in with the counter right. He can't be scared of him, and he has to use both hands. He can't win with just the left like he did (against Gonzalez). I thought he hurt his right hand in that fight, the way he acted, but he insists he didn't.
      "The thing is, you don't beat Whitaker fighting one-handed. Oscar has to use both hands, or he loses the fight."